Hamas celebrates the anniversary of the Sbarro pizza shop bombing in which 15 Israelis, among them 7 children, were murdered:

"The news of the operation made Palestinians joyous everywhere... Masses of people went out to the streets, cheered, and distributed candies out of happiness"

Itamar Marcus

Yesterday, August 9, was the 16th anniversary of the horrific suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem in which 15 Israelis, among them 7 children, were murdered and 130 were wounded. Among the killed were Mordechai and Tzirel Schijveschuurder and three of their children, Ra’aya aged 14, Avraham aged 4, and Hemda aged 2.

Hamas gloated over the murders yesterday in a post on the website of Hamas’ TV channel. Referring to the guitar case in which the suicide bomber hid the bomb, Hamas headlined its story: “The Sbarro operation - The guitar that shook the [Zionist] entity and reaped 20 Zionists.”

Hamas wrote:

“The news of the operation made Palestinians joyous everywhere. The largest celebrations in honor of the hero [suicide bomber Al-Masri]... Masses of people went out to the streets, cheered, and distributed candies out of happiness.”

[Website of Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Channel, Aug. 9, 2017]

The following are pictures of those murdered in the Sbarro bombing:

[Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

The article on the Hamas website also describes with pride how the terrorist mingled among the people in the pizza shop before detonating his bomb, which it describes as “playing the melodies of revenge.”

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the Palestinian Authority and Fatah likewise glorify and honor terrorists, and even reward them financially. In 2001 the Hamas student branch at Al-Najah University in Nablus celebrated the murders by creating exhibit of the pizza shop and posted on the wall images of body parts. [Source of images: Malki Foundation website]

In 2014, the Palestinian Authority likewise honored the suicide bomber by giving him a military funeral when his body was returned to the Palestinian Authority:h

PA TV reporter: ”Thousands of civilians from the Tubas District, representing all segments of the political activity, took part in the funeral of the remains of the Martyr (suicide bomber who killed 15) who gave his soul for the struggle of a nation that strives for freedom.”

Mayor of Aqqaba Jamal Abu Ara: “The popular gathering around the blood of Izz Al-Din Al-Masri (i.e., the Sbarro bomber) is an honest and true expression of our people’s yearning for national unity (between Fatah and Hamas) and unity of action.”

PA TV reporter: “The flags of the political parties were raised at this national wedding (the Martyr's wedding to the 72 Virgins in Paradise), which demonstrated the national unity and cohesion among our people.”

[Official PA TV, April 30, 2014]

Hamas terrorist Ahlam Tamimi led the suicide bomber to the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem in August 2001. In October 2011, Tamimi was released from Israeli prison as part of the Shalit prisoner exchange deal brokered between the Israeli government and Hamas. Following her release, PA TV rebroadcast an interview with her that aired on Israeli television during her imprisonment, in which Tamimi smiled in delight upon hearing that more children had been murdered in the bombing than she had thought:

lThe following is a longer excerpt from the article on the website of Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV Channel:

“Aug. 9, 2001, was not an ordinary day in the memory of the Zionist entity’s leaders...

When the Sbarro restaurant on Jaffa Street in occupied Jerusalem was full of Zionist settlers at lunchtime, Martyrdom-Seeker from [Hamas’ military wing Izz A-Din] Al-Qassam Brigades, Izz Al-Din Al-Masri (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 15, 7 of them children) had an opportunity to mingle with them together with his booby-trapped guitar, and playing the melodies of revenge on those who defiled the land, and violated [Palestinian] blood and honor...

Faced with the scenes of great destruction of the restaurant, the occupation was unable to hide its killed and wounded, and it announced the death of 20 Zionists (sic., 15 Israelis) and the wounding of 120 others (sic., 130).

The news of the operation made Palestinians joyous everywhere. The largest celebrations in honor of the hero [suicide bomber Al-Masri] were at the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, the lion’s den that 29-year-old Martyrdom-Seeker Izz Al-Din Al-Masri came from. Masses of people went out to the streets, cheered, and distributed candies out of happiness.”

[Website of Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Channel, Aug. 9, 2017]

Izz Al-Din Al-Masri - suicide bomber who carried out the Aug. 9, 2001 bombing of the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, in which 15 civilians were killed and 130 wounded. Israel transferred the terrorist's body to the PA on April 29, 2014.

Ahlam Tamimi - was serving 16 life sentences for leading a suicide bomber to the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem on August 9, 2001. 15 people were murdered in the attack, 7 of them children, and 130 were injured. In October 2011, Tamimi was released as part of the Shalit prisoner exchange deal brokered between the Israeli government and Hamas. In that deal, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for more than 5 years. In 2017, the US Justice Department requested that Tamimi be extradited from Jordan to stand trial.